Stewart Lythe slythe@britishlegion.org.uk M: 07769 840904 Page 1

YORKSHIRE, NORTH & EAST JULY 2015

Seminar News - Big North East Event! We are pleased to invite you and one volunteer to attend this year's seminar which will be held on Saturday 19th September at Eden Camp Museum, Malton, and North Yorkshire. YO17 6RT

I am delighted to say that our guest speaker will be Sarah Rayfield from Poppy Appeal HQ in Aylesford who will be updating us with news for this year's Poppy Appeal and will be able to answer any questions directly. You will of course have time to look round the camp and meet with other volunteers from around the North East.

Refreshments will be provided on arrival and a buffet lunch will be offered at lunchtime. We really hope you will be able to join us as we have also invited the teams from South and West Yorkshire and the Northumbria region to join us in this great day out.

Places are limited and will be allocated using a ‘first come first served’ policy, so please get back and confirm your places no later than 19th August.

Please either telephone on 07769 840904 or return the slip below to me by emailing slythe@britishlegion.org.uk

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P.A.O. Name: ………………………………………..

P.A.O. Area: ………………………………………….

Number of people attending (including self): ……

Kids Packs In Ray Sheppard's letter in the June mail out you would have noted that the due to the huge success of the kids packs there will now be enough stock for each primary school within England, Wales & N.Ireland

Based on feedback from PAOs, the packs will include five products (slap ruler, reflective poppy, Live On pencil pack, wristbands and multi-colored bracelets).

Please only order for the number of primary schools within your district as otherwise you may leave others without the opportunity to provide their schools with a pack. As before, there are no poppies in the boxes so these will need to be distributed separately with a collecting tin.

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noted that the 'Kids Pack' does not actually appear on the order form. Therefore please simply write on the bottom of the poppy order form how many you require.

Fundraising Events Research Here in Fundraising, we are conscious that all manner of events take place to raise cash for our beneficiaries. It would be impossible to itemise each type of event as some are out of the ordinary and plain wacky (see article below) but we would like your help in identifying what works well in our area.

If you are holding an event, I would love to hear about it - was it was a success and how much did it raise? This information will help us promote more of the events that are cost effective and help our cause. I would be grateful for details of your event no matter how small by telephone or email please along with photos for future newsletters

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YORKSHIRE, NORTH & EAST LOCAL NEWS

Knaresborough Bed Race 2015

Team Over The Rainbows

There were two teams fundraising for us in this year's Bed Race in Knaresborough. 'Over The Rainbows' were running in Live On branded kit whilst 'Poppy Punks' had their own idea of suitable attire.

I'm still not sure about the beds - I wouldn't want to spend a night in one of them……Well done guys and many thanks!

Team Poppy Punks

Green Fingers in Whitby Joe Wells, our PAO in lovely Whitby wrote to me recently about some horticultural success he has had recently - I'll let Joe tell the story:-

"In October 2014 a Remembrance Garden was being built at Wellington Barracks in London and the Army found that some of the bags of "sacred soil" had been left behind in France so they sought help. The Cunard Line put RMS Queen Mary 2 at the disposal of the Army and a friend of mine, Mr. Paul O'Laughlin who is a senior officer with Cunard, travelled with the ship to France, and then on to the Menin Gate.

The bags of soil were handed over to the Army and Cunard, for onward passage to Southampton where the precious cargo was collected by a military escort and taken to London and incorporated into the garden.

Whilst at the Menin Gate, Paul bought some packets of poppy seed containing seeds from the battlefields and on his return to the UK gave me two of the packets of seed, which I sowed in my garden.

I had given up hope of seeing any poppies, but this morning my first Flanders Poppy appeared as if from nowhere.

I just had to take a photo, and thought you might like to see it. "

"We Will Remember Them".

Joe Wells

York Festival of Remembrance This is an Annual event that has been running since Nov 1991, previously it was organised by Mr. Ted Griffiths MBE who sadly passed away last November. York Branch is continuing this tradition, organised in aid

of the Poppy Appeal.

Plans are already well in hand and the Festival is to be held at the York Barbican on Sunday 1st November 2015 commencing at 7pm.

If you are able, please give this event your support.

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YORKSHIRE, NORTH & EAST LOCAL NEWS

Driffield Branch The good folk at Driffield have been busy recently with VE Day celebrations and also a well attended 'Thank You' event to which over 80 volunteers and members turned up for a good night out and presentations of certificates to collectors.

Their VE Day event was held at the local Tesco and attracted a large crowd of sightseers and the plain curious ….

I'm not entirely certain of the relevance of the root vegetables - perhaps they were grown from historic WW2 stock or are an ingredient for a tasty 'Dig for Victory' meal……

……either way, it would make for a good funny caption competition!

Do you need a band for a Poppy Appeal Event? You may or not know that as a part time musician, I play in a Yorkshire based covers band and our repertoire consists of popular music from the 50s up to present day. Subject to availability, we would be happy to play at any fundraising event you may have - let me know if you are interested!

Scarborough Awards

Poppy Appeal awards at the Mayor's parlour, Scarborough Town Hall showing Scarborough PAO Beryl Johnson (front row far left and Mayor Cllr Pat Marsburg (front centre) and recipients of awards for 5, 10, 20 and 30 years service to the Appeal.

Run up to Remembrance Well we're here again and getting prepared for another Poppy Appeal. By now you should have received your order pack for the 2015 appeal. If your pack hasn't arrived or you have any issues or queries regarding the order process, please don't hesitate to contact me by phone or email.

As usual, my contact details are at the bottom of Page 1 of this newsletter

Thank you all for your continuing hard work and support for a very worthy cause.

Stewart

NATIONAL NEWS

The 2015 Legion volunteer survey Have your say! Volunteers are at the very heart of The Royal British Legion, supporting the Armed Forces community in many different ways.

We want everyone who volunteers for the Legion to have a first class volunteering experience. In order to ensure this is happening we’re keen to hear the views of as many people who support the Legion by volunteering. The 2105 volunteer survey is an opportunity for us to do this.

We’d also like to learn more about our volunteers. The Royal British Legion aims to be an inclusive organisation where everyone is treated with respect and dignity, and there is equal opportunity for all. We want to understand who our volunteers are so we can focus our resources more effectively to support and develop our existing volunteer pool, as well as attracting new volunteers.

Therefore, we would like your support by completing this short survey. The survey can be found online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TRBLvolunteersurvey2015

If you’re a Poppy Appeal Organiser, please do complete this survey yourself, as well as passing on to any Poppy Appeal Collectors involved in your Poppy Appeal.

The deadline for completion is Wednesday 30 September, 2015.

The survey is completely anonymous – we do not ask for names or contact details – so no answers can be attributed to individual volunteers.

Why is this survey important?

It is important that we know what our volunteers think about being a volunteer, so we can ensure we are delivering a first class experience for them. While some volunteers are involved in some of the Volunteer Support Unit’s (VSU) work through the Volunteer Engagement Group, this survey allows us to potentially reach everyone who volunteers for the Legion.

It is also important we understand the make up of the people who support our organisation, as this will help us know whether we are recruiting volunteers from the wider communities we serve.

Does every volunteer have to complete this survey?

No, this is not a mandatory survey, so there is no obligation for you to fill it in. However, by doing so you are helping the Legion to have a better understanding of who our volunteers are and what you think about your volunteering experience.

While all the questions in the survey are mandatory, there is always the option to select ‘don’t know’ or ‘prefer not to answer’.

What will the Legion do with this information?

The VSU will analyse all the responses and present a report to the Volunteer Steering Group in December 2015. The report will be in two parts. One will outline what volunteers are saying about their experiences of volunteering with the Legion. The second will give the Steering Group an overview of who our volunteers are.

A summary of the responses to the survey will be made available to volunteers in early 2016.

Is my information safe?

Yes. Personal information is only ever used for monitoring purposes, and is not attributable to any specific volunteer. Survey answers will be stored securely by the Legion.

How long will it take to complete the survey?

The survey is hosted on the website SurveyMonkey. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete, although it may take a little longer if you want to add comments to all the free text boxes. If possible, your manager will try and give you the opportunity to use a Legion computer to complete the survey if this is easier. Your local Pop-In Centre maybe also be able to help.

If you have no way of accessing the website to complete the survey, i.e. due to a disability, please make contact with your reporting manager who may be able to help.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in making this survey a success, and therefore enabling us to provide a better experience for our volunteers, and ultimately for our beneficiaries.

Any questions or queries about the survey should be directed to your reporting manager.

Newmarket Raceday – 8 August 2015 Discounted tickets for this exciting annual event are now available to all Legion members and supporters. Please ring Newmarket Box Office on 0844 5793010 and QUOTE REFERENCE RBL15.

The closing date for bookings is 23 July.

Premier Enclosure tickets are £14.50 and Grandstand are £10.50 (discounted from £25 and £16).

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NATIONAL NEWS

Aylesford—here to provide support Identity Cards

Photograph ID Cards are available for all Poppy Appeal Organisers and Deputy PAOs. Simply complete the ID Card Application Form and return it to your CFR with a passport size photograph with your name on rear of the picture. The form and picture is then sent to Aylesford for production, this should take approximately 10 days. The ID Card is valid for three years from date of dispatch. The application forms are available via email, please send your request to poppyinfo@britishlegion.org.uk.

G4S

We are very pleased to announce that once again we are able to offer a cash collection service for Poppy Appeal Organisers. Please DO NOT

approach G4S directly as you will not receive the correct paperwork and your cash collection will not take place. If you would like more information and a list of FAQs on using G4S please email washone@britishlegion.org.uk.

Awards

A scheme exists where awards can be made to volunteers who have served for a number of years, details of which are contained on the Award

Application Form which may be obtained from Aylesford. Organisers are encouraged by all involved in the Appeal to apply for these awards on behalf of their volunteers and indeed themselves. If you should have questions or queries regarding the process or obtaining the forms then please email awards@britishlegion.org.uk.

Storage

Firstly I would like to congratulate those Poppy Appeal Organisers who have managed to arrange free local storage, be that in Reserve Army barracks or a pallet

stored in a local business, well done and thank you. However we do understand that some Poppy Appeal

Organisers experience great problems with obtaining storage when it is required; so we have arranged a national agreement with a company called Safestore. This does not mean that other companies cannot be used if Safestore is not available in your area. If you should experience storage problems your first port-of-call should be your CFR to discuss what options are available in your area. If there is nothing available it is then that your CFR will contact Aylesford and we will make arrangements with Safestore or a local storage company.

Deputy Poppy Appeal Organisers

Some CFRs in conjunction with the Poppy Appeal Organisers have nominated a Deputy to help assist and run the Poppy

Appeal within their area, please can I remind you that for a Deputy to be able to order stock they must be officially registered at Aylesford. This is a very simple process, your CFR will email the Regional Administrator and they will add them to the CARE database. Once appointed an official DPAO badge is available from your CFR.

Insurance Queries and Public Liability Insurance Certificate

If you should have any insurance queries or questions about anything from a planned event or your Poppy Appeal itself then please call Aylesford or email scrowhurst@britishlegion.org.uk. The Public Liability Certificate will be available as soon as possible from 1st October from both Aylesford and your CFR, we are attempting to have the renewal date moved to avoid clashing with the start of the Poppy Appeal.

Shane Crowhurst Operations Manager scrowhurst@britishlegion.org.uk

Online Ordering Update – Ray Sheppard Head of Poppy Appeal I am pleased to finally announce that we are rolling out the online ordering system throughout July to all organisers who wish to use this to place their orders, (please see example of home page). Poppy Appeal Organisers who have submitted their e-mail contact details previously will be included in the initial invite for the roll out programme. In order to activate their accounts they will receive an e-mail outlining joining and ordering instructions to allow them to place orders from their respective roll out dates. In order to ensure a smooth transition for those users that wish to utilise the service I will be implementing this on a Region by Region basis using the following schedule:

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NATIONAL NEWS

Date Region

W/C 13th July North Wales & N Ireland

W/C 20th July London & S East Midlands

W/C 27th July East South

For those PAOs that have not supplied an e-mail previously and would like to use the online system they must send an e-mail to the following address quoting your PAO reference: astart to be actioned from w/c 3rd August. Confirmation of new account set up will be sent explaining log in and ordering methods after this date. In order to ensure that the office team, who are also working a new system, are able to process the current workload we would appreciate that you do not ring the office with any queries relating to this subject. Please direct your communications by e-mail using the following address quoting your PAO reference: PAOrderEnquiries@britishlegion.org.uk where your query will be sorted as soon as possible.

All postal orders will be processed using a new back of house system by the Regional Administrators who will now have an electronic record of that order. This will enhance our ability to answer any queries more promptly IMPORTANT NOTE – if you have already submitted your order or your order sheets by post please do not duplicate this on the online system otherwise you will receive both orders. Hopefully you will appreciate that this is a new system for all within the Poppy Appeal and while we will endeavour to ensure all orders are correctly processed and distributed, there may be the odd issue. If you are affected please do use the e-mail PAOrderEnquiries@britishlegion.org.uk wherever possible quoting your PAO reference.

Kids Pack

Further to the communication in the June mailout stock has been ordered to provide one box per state primary school. This equates to just over 19,000 packs, please only order these packs for schools and not for other fundraising activities. This will ensure that every district has the opportunity to provide their local school, should they wish to take part, with what has been a very successfully launched product over the last two years.

Legacy Fundraising Between 1st April and 24th June 2015, 218 supporters generously left gifts in their Wills to The Royal British Legion. This generated an amazing £3,605,000 for the organisation. Year to date, we have received over £13.8 million from gifts left to us in Wills.

We have recently launched our Regional Legacy Day Event Programme, which aims to steward Legacy supporters. It is a great opportunity for us to talk about the importance of Legacy fundraising and about the work that the Legion does.

On 20th May we invited legacy supporters in London to visit the Churchill War Rooms to hear from Assistant Director of Membership, Colin Gordon and the Museum Director, Phil Reed OBE. On Thursday 18th June, legacy supporters in the South West area were invited to attend our event at Dartington Hall, Totnes. Colin Gordon shared his invaluable knowledge about the Legion’s welfare work (image below) and supporters then heard from the Interim CEO of The Dartington Trust, Karen Williams.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Our remaining event programme is as follows:

• Thursday 23rd July: Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool

• Thursday 20th August: Imperial War Museum, Duxford

• Wednesday 16th September: NMA, Staffordshire

If you would like to attend one of these events, please contact Lauren Barr on the below contact details, so that we can reserve you a place.

If you would like to find out more about gifts in Wills or our events programme, please contact Lauren Barr, Legacy Marketing Coordinator (020 3053 7007, lbarr@britishlegion.org.uk). Or alternatively, visit http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/legacies/leave-a-legacy .

CORPORATE NEWS New partnerships launched The Corporate Partnerships portfolio is expanding and we have just launched some new and exciting national partnerships!

We launched with Elizabeth Arden, the high street cosmetics brand, in April this year and already their fundraising has been a huge success. From Friday 10th April – Sunday 10th May, Elizabeth Arden donated £5 from every Beautiful Colour Mouisturizing Lipstick sold to the Legion to commemorate the VE Day 70th anniversary and this raised an incredible £22,985. Employees also got involved by opting for 1940’s hair and make-up, offering 1940's makeovers to customers and selling VE Day pin badges for a suggested donation of £2.

Consultants at the Elizabeth Arden counter in Manchester getting involved in the VE Day celebrations

Poppies4Kits have supported the Legion since 2014 and in 2015 they launched nationally, guaranteeing to raise £20,000 for the year. Poppies4Kits provides

sporting clubs across the country with the opportunity to show their support by wearing self-adhesive woven poppies. If you, your team, local Legion Branch or supporters have an upcoming event or activity, why not order some poppy patches to support the Legion? You can order online from the Poppies4Kits website www.poppies4kits.co.uk and follow Poppies4Kits on Twitter @poppies4kits.

As of August 1st 2015, we are launching a partnership with innovative mobility experts, Willowbrook. The company are contributing £165.00 from the sale of the Special Edition ‘Poppy’ Riser Recliner and the Special Edition ‘Poppy’ Adjustable Bed to Legion and hoping to raise over £20,000 over 4 months, watch this space!”

Remembrance Activity We are thrilled to share just some of the activity we have planned for Remembrance 2015!

Once again M&S will be stocking the popular range of sparkly poppy jewellery in all stores from September until November whilst stocks last. Watch out for the brand new design of brooches, pins, cufflinks, bracelets and necklace. Volunteers are also welcome to collect in stores as in previous years and should contact their local stores to arrange.

Sainsbury’s will once again be supporting the Poppy Appeal selling a range of poppy products and other exciting activity soon to be announced! They are delighted to welcome Poppy Collections in store from Thursday 22nd October to Wednesday 11th November. Please contact your local stores to arrange.

The Premier League have supported the Legion since 2009, raising over £665,000 over the last three years and we are delighted to confirm that they will be supporting us again in 2015

During matches played in the lead-up to and over Remembrance weekend the clubs wear shirts embroidered with a poppy and then kindly donate these to the Legion to be auctioned.

Poppy Appeal at Morrisons! Morrisons this year has gone that one step further to really support the Poppy Appeal in each of it’s stores. They have confirmed that they will retain, count and bank all monies collected via manned and unmanned means during the Poppy Appeal collection period. We are extremely grateful to Morrisons because this will mean the cash will not have to be moved from store, ensuring better safety for our volunteers and reducing the time spent on moving money around. Most importantly, all monies raised (from manned and unmanned collections) in each store will be re-allocated back in to the relevant PAO district.

Details are being finalised and more information will be forthcoming shortly.

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NATIONAL NEWS

The Royal British Legion to lead 70th anniversary of VJ Day commemorations

The Ministry of Defence in collaboration with The Royal British Legion will lead national commemorations this summer to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Victory over Japan Day, taking place on Saturday 15 August 2015 in central London.

Personnel from all three Services will provide ceremonial support to the commemorations, known as ‘VJ Day 70’, and will assist veterans of the Far East campaign, former Prisoners of War, civilian internees, and their families as they mark this historic anniversary commemorating the end of the war in the Pacific.

The anniversary aims to pay tribute to all those who served in the Armed Forces, including those who served in the famous 14th Army in Burma, who helped secure victory. Prisoners of War and civilian internees from the conflict will also be recognised.

70th anniversary in London

In London, the following national events will take place with members of the public invited to observe the service and parade:

• 2 pm – a flypast and traditional Drumhead Service on Horse Guards Parade attended by senior political and military representatives from the UK and her Allies, veterans (military and civilian) and their families.

• Followed by current members of the Armed Forces leading veterans and their families in a VJ Parade down Whitehall.

• A 70th anniversary reception for veterans and their families, hosted by the Legion.

Burma Star and Pacific Star recipients and their widows are invited to apply for accreditation to attend all three events.

Direct descendants of Burma Star and Pacific Star veterans who are unable to attend, or no longer living, are invited to represent them at the Drumhead Service.

VJ Day veterans & families

The Legion is sending invitations to all major Service associations including the Burma Star Association. Downloadable versions of the forms are also available from the links below.

Application for VE Day 70 Event Accreditation – Burma Star & Pacific Star Veterans and Widows.

Application for Accreditation to attend Drumhead Service Horse Guards Parade – direct descendants of Burma Star and Pacific Star holders.

Completed forms can be emailed to VJDay70@britishlegion.org.uk or posted to:

VJ Day 70 Events Team The Royal British Legion 199 Borough High Street London SE1 1AA.

Applications are due by no later than 17 July 2015.

Funding support is available to enable veterans and their guests to attend the commemorations. Further details on how to claim for travel expenses will be announced shortly.

Other 70th anniversary events

A number of VJ Day commemorations will also be held around the UK, including a commemoration service at St-Martins-in-the-Fields Church organised by the National Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOW) and a service in the Millennium Chapel followed by a wreath laying at the Legion’s National Memorial Arboretum organised by The Malayan Volunteers Group. See the Legion’s VJ Day website for further details.

Further information is available from the Legion’s VJ Day page and the Government’s VJ Day website.

For all enquiries regarding the upcoming VJ Day commemorations please email VJDay70@britishlegion.org.uk.

Design, print and distribution by RBLI. Royal British Legion Industries Print & Mail Division T: 01372 389940 E: info@rbli-pmf.com

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